ACA Calls for Level Playing Field with FCC Regulatory Fees

Small Cable Files Comments in Support of Regulatory Fee Equality with Satellite

PITTSBURGH-Oct. 29, 2008-The American Cable
Association (ACA) formally requested that the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) take action to address the disparity in regulatory fees between cable
operators and DBS. In its filing (available
here), ACA explained that the video marketplace today is highly
competitive, particularly in the areas served by independent cable operators,
and harm is caused by a regulatory fee structure that unjustifiably favors
satellite TV over cable. ACA called on
the FCC to impose a uniform subscriber-based regulatory fee on all pay
television providers to provide platform uniformity.

"In today's highly competitive video market, it is a matter
of fairness to apply the same regulatory fee structure to both cable and
satellite TV," said ACA President
and CEO Matthew M. Polka. "By continuing to permit this unjustifiable
inequality, the Commission is causing irreparable competitive harm to cable
operators, particularly in small markets and rural areas where satellite TV is
the dominant provider."

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About the American
Cable Association

Based in Pittsburgh, the American Cable Association is a
trade organization representing 1,100 smaller and medium-sized, independent
cable companies who provide broadband services for more than 7 million cable
subscribers primarily located in rural and smaller suburban markets across
America. Through active participation in
the regulatory and legislative process in Washington,
D.C., ACA's members work together
to advance the interests of their customers and ensure the future
competitiveness and viability of their business. For more information, visit www.americancable.org.

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